Key guide for locks



July 25, 1961 J. A. BACCOLLA KEY GUIDE FOR LOCKS Filed Dec. 29, 1958INVENTOR. Jae/r 1i Baccafla. BY W 2,993,362 KEY GUIDE FOR LOCKS Jack A.Baccolla, '334 E. 21st St., Paterson, NJ. Filed Dec. 29, 1958, 'Ser. No.783,234 6 Claims. (Cl. 7 8-454) This invention relates to a key guidefor looks to be used with doors for residences, automotive vehicles, andother structures which require stationary type locks as distinguishedfrom padlocks.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a guide for a keywhich will enable a person to find the keyhole and insert the keytherein even in total darkness without undue delay.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a device havingsurfaces for guiding the key toward the keyhole or key slot.

A further object is the provision of a device of this kind which may bemade of any suitable type of material, preferably plastic material, andwhich may be manufactured in quantity and at a minimum expense.

Yet another object is the provision of a keyhole guide which in one ofits forms may be molded to shape and which is readily connected ordisconnected from a door adjacent the keyhole thereof.

Other objects will appear hereinafter throughout the specification.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front View of one form of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the structure shown in FIGURE 1, withparts shown in dotted lines;

FIGURE 3 is an exploded view of the component parts of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view of the parts of the second form of theinvention;

FIGURE 5 is a front elevational view of the form shown in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a perspecitve view of a third form of the invention; and

FIGURE 7 is an exploded view of the parts used in the construction shownin FIGURE 6.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral 18 indicates a casing orshell, which may be of any suitable configuration so as to fit over theordinary door lock. The casing is provided with a pair of ears 12 havingattaching means 14, such as screws, for attaching the casing to the doorso as to enclose the lock 19. Preferably the casing has a rim 16 whichforms the outermost portion of the housing and comprises a conelikeportion 18. The inner end of the conelike portion is provided with anopening 20 which may be circular, oval, or any other shape that willexpose the slot of the lock, shown at 159. Adjacent the lower centralportion of the opening 20 and extending from this opening to the rim 16is a guide or track 22.

It will be understood that the casing and conelike portion 18 may bemolded or otherwise formed from a single piece of material, or they maybe separately formed and attached to each other by providing a pairofnotches 24 which are adapted to engage a pair of tongues 26, theformer preferably being formed on the conelike portion and the latterbeing a part of the casing 10. Should the parts he made of plastic, itwill be easy to connect these parts to each other by heat fusion or bycoating their surfaces with an adhesive, or if they are made of metal,the tongues may be bent into the notches.

It will be understood that the parts of the key guide casing andconelike portion, as previously indicated, are preferably composed ofplastic material, and various colors may be used to conform to the colorof the door to which they are to be afiixed. However, various otherPatented July 25, 1961 materials may be utilized for these parts, suchas metal, wood, or glass.

The second form of the invention is illustrated in FIG- URES 4 and 5.This structure is preferably composed of plastic material in variouscolors and consists of a casing 28 having an upper straplike portion 30.The lower half of the casing has a curved flange portion 32 providedwith inwardly directed pins or bosses 42. The conelike portion 34 isprovided with an opening 36 which, when the casing with the conelikeportion in place thereon is in position over the lock, will be inalignment with the slot or keyhole of the door. In positioning thisstructure on the door, the strap 30 engages between the door lock andthe face of the door, not shown. The conelike portion is joined to thecasing by the engagement of the notches 40 with the bosses 42. As theseveral parts are preferably composed of resilient material, theconelike portion may be dropped into position and then snapped intoplace, as seen in FIGURE 5. As shown, the conelike portion is providedwith a slot 44 which will serve to guide the key toward the keyhole,similar to the guide 22 shown in FIGURE 1. The top of the conelikeportion is cut away at 38 in FIGURES 4 and 5.

The second form of the invention illustrated in FIG- URES 4 and 5 issimilar in all respects to that shown in FIGURES 1 to 3, except for theshape of the casing, conelike portion, and the means for attaching thecasing to the door. This means in the second form comprises thestraplike portion 30 which is adapted to engage under the doorlockcasing, i.e. between the casing and the door to which it is attached.

The third form of the invention illustrated in FIG- URES 6 and 7comprises a pair of wings 46 and 48 which are pivoted at their bases andwhich are maintained in the position shown in FIGURE 6 by a springconstruction hereinafter described. Wing 46 is provided with an inclinedupper portion 50 and wing 48 is provided with a similar inclined upperportion 52, the said inclined portions extending to vertical portions 54and 56, as seen in FIGURE 6, the vertical portions terminating in steps58 and 60. These vertical portions and steps, 54, 56, 58, and 60, form akey guide or track, the device being so mounted on a door that this keyguide will be in alignment with the keyhole of the door, not shown.

Wing 46 is provided at its lower end with a pintle supporting sleeve 62for engaging the hollow pintle 64 of the wing 48. As shown in FIGURE 7,there is a split sleeve 66 forming a spring having edges 68; a washer 70and a screw 72. These parts serve to mount, as hereinafter explained,the wings in position so that they will be resiliently urged by thesplit sleeve 66 in the position shown in FIGURE 6. These parts aremounted on the body 74 which is provided with a plurality of openings 76for the screws 78. As shown to the right of FIGURE 7, the body 74 isprovided with a boss 80 having internal screw threads 82 which areadapted to be engaged by the threads of the screw 72 when the parts areassembled in the position shown in FIGURE 6. The pintle 64 is hollow inorder to house the screw 72.

In the assembly of the structures shown in FIGURES 6 and 7, the body 74is first mounted in proper position on the door by the screws 78 whichpass through the openings 76 and engage in the door below the door lock.The hollow pintle 64 is then threaded into the pintle supporting sleeve62, after which the spring split sleeve 66 which is biased to acontracted position is expanded or opened. It is then caused to surroundthe sleeve 62 with its left side edge 68 in the depressed portion formedat the junction of the sleeve 62 with the underside of the wing 46, andits right edge engaging in the depressed portion between the hollowpintle 64 and where it joins the underside of the wing 48. Theassemblage is then slid onto the boss 80, and the washer 70 and screw 72are applied so that the screw threads of the screw engage the threads 82of the boss 80.

'Care must be taken not to tighten the screw 72'unduly, as this wouldinterfere with the free pivoting of Wings 46 and 43. These Wings arebiased by the split sleeve 66 to their closed position, shown in FIGURE6. It will be found that either of the inclined portions will serve toguide the key toward the vertical walls 54 and 56, and once the keyreaches these walls and is inserted between them, it may be pushedforwardly into the keyhole of the lock.

When the key is inserted in the keyhole of a lock, the side surfaces ofthe key will lie closely adjacent the vertical surfaces 54 and 56 of thewings. When the key is turned,.these side surfaces will cause the wingsto pivot, wing 48 moving in a clockwise direction and wing 46 moving ina counterclockwise direction. When the key is withdrawn from the lock orreturned to a vertical position, the split spring sleeve 66 willautomatically return the wings to the position shown in FIGURE 6.

It will be noted that the purpose of the hollow split spring sleeve 66is to bias the parts toward each other, i.e. to cause rotation of wing48 in a counterclockwise direction and wing 46 in a clockwise directionuntil their lower edges meet in a vertical line, as indicated at 84 inFIGURE 6.

The above description and drawings disclose several embodiments of theinvention, and specific language has been employed in describing theseveral figures. It will, nevertheless, be understood that nolimitations of the scope of the invention are thereby contemplated, andthat various alterations and modifications may be made such as wouldoccur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. a

I claim:

1. In a key guide for looks, means having inclined surfaces comprising apair of wings, means pivoting said wings,.means biasing said wingstoward each other, the inclined surfaces of said wings forming a V, saidwings having walls located at the apex of the V and forming a 3. Thestructure of claim 2 wherein saidmeans mounting said wings on said bossincludes a supporting sleeve on one of said wings, a hollow pintle onthe other of said wings, and means connecting said supporting sleeve andhollow pintle to each other in operative relationship on said boss.

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein said last named means comprisesinternal screw threads on said boss and a screw. adapted to engage saidinternal screw threads when said wings are mounted in position on saidboss.

5. The structure of claim 4 wherein said means biasing said wings towardeach other comprises a spring sleeve having a slot extendinglongitudinally thereof, one of the edges of said slot being adapted toengage one wing and the other edge of said slot being adapted to engagethe other wing.

6. The structure of claim 1 wherein said means biasing said wings towardeach other comprises a spring sleeve having a slot extendinglongitudinally thereof, one of the edges of said slot being adaptedtoengage one wing and the other edge of said slot being adapted toengage the other wing.

France Apr. 21,

